Sophia cast her gaze on Ashton's empty desk for the umpteenth time. Why was she even bothered with his absence? She should be happy that Ashton missed school for two days hence there was nobody to bother her. But no! The thought didn't calm her at all.

How could he steal a kiss from her and then disappear for two complete days? Was he playing her? She seriously wanted to give him a piece of her mind even though she couldn't get the memory of that kiss out of her senses.

The past two days have been crazy for her, the kiss kept playing in a loop in her mind and she had no doubt she would go crazy soon.

One couldn't imagine how relieved Sophia was when the bell signaling lesson over echoed in the room. She was the first to leave before anyone even had the thoughts of packing their books. In haste to leave, Sophia didn't look where she was going and bumped into someone the instant she was out; the books in her grasp fell to the ground.

"I'm so sorry," She apologized without even glancing up at the victim who nonetheless helped her pick up her books.

"Thank you so..." the rest of the words trailed off when she met his eyes - it did that weird color change she was always talking about.

"Hi, I'm Isaac," The boy thrust out his hand for a handshake which roused her from her thought.

"Hi, I'm Sophia," she accepted his handshake and speak of a cold temperature. She wondered why people haven't accused these pale students of being vampires - well, she hadn't seen any with red eyes and fangs. Yet.

"You're a new student, aren't you? Haven't seen you around here pretty much," He flashed pearly white teeth at her - no fangs, noted.

"Yeah, I'm kind of still finding my way around here," she flashed him a smile.

"Then I hope we meet around a lot," Isaac said, lowered his head, and took a heady sniff of her neck before leaving.

Alright, that was not creepy at all.

No, she was creeped out! Weird, baffling things were happening around here and it was starting to freak her out. She hadn't put many thoughts into it but after that kissing incident with Ashton, she was starting to see things in a different light.

Still reeling from that creepy encounter, Sophia barely made it to her locker when someone startled her from behind.

"Hi, Sophia," Hailey waved, a goofy grin on her face.

"Jesus Christ! Can you guys stop sneaking up on me like that," She had a hand to her heart - she hasn't heard the girl's footsteps. It wouldn't surprise her if she died at this rate.

"I'm so sorry but you were so distracted,"

"Oh," Sophia mumbled, feeling guilty for accusing her when she was partially responsible for the scare," So why are you here? "

Sophia eyed the breathtakingly beautiful blonde girl. Though she and Hailey were not enemies, they didn't exactly interact with each other a lot - just brief pleasantries - in fact, it came as a shock to her that the girl was even speaking to her right now.

Sophia couldn't explain it but she felt like the twins were on a whole different level than her - and she was not just saying that because their beauty was out of this world - there was just something unique about them - it was no wonder they were the most popular students at school.

"I'm inviting you to the party I'm hosting at Ashton's place this Friday," Hailey said, handing an invitation card to her - even the card was luxurious. They must be so rich.

However, her brows furrowed together in confusion, " You're hosting a party at Asher's place? Why can't you host the party at your place?... " she trailed off when she realized how stupid she sounded right now. How was it her business if she organized a party at Asher's place?

Hailey smiled inwardly, her brother didn't even need to bother about his mate - she was finally feeling the bond.

"Well, Principal Asher is away on a trip and his place is big enough for my party," Hailey answered, " Do you need another reason?"

"No," Sophia bit on her lips as she accepted the invitation, " Urm... I'm not trying to pry or something, but are you and Ashton dating? You and your sister Hazel just seem extremely close to him, you know?" She shrugged.

Hailey smiled, it made Sophia feel stupid. She must sound like a jealous girlfriend right now - not that she was even his girlfriend. Great, she made a fool of herself in front of Ashton's girlfriend.

"What are you talking about silly," Hailey tapped her on the forehead playfully.

Sophia blinked, was that a warm gesture from the famous twin?

"The truth is that Ashton and I are siblings,"

"Huh?" Confusion lined her face which slowly shifted to anger. Hailey was making a great fool out of her.

Ashton was a replica of his father, the principal, Asher so how could he be siblings with them - they looked nothing like each other.

Hailey lowered her head, whispering into her ears, "Our both parents are so in love with each other and would get married pretty soon. Even without that, I would never date that dickhead - he's so irritating,"

Sophia's eyes widened, so that was the case? She had often wondered about their relationship because of their odd closeness. She was strangely relieved.

But still, their parents were just in love with each other and could break up in the future, why were they acting like one family already? To the point of sharing a house? Sophia had a feeling Hailey was not telling her everything and why was she even so damn curious? She was the kind of girl who liked to mind her business.

"So are you coming to the party this Friday or not?" Hailey asked just to be sure. Ashton would be freaking mad if she fails to keep up with her own part of the deal.

"Of course," She answered too quickly. Gosh, Sophia, you have lost it.

"Alright, I'll be going then," Hailey turned to leave.

"Wait!" Sophia spoke out.

There was a hidden smirk across Hailey's features, she had a faint feeling of what the girl was about to ask. But she innocently faced her with a blank expression, "Is anything the problem?"

Sophia gulped, refusing to meet Hailey's eyes, "I haven't seen Ashton for days, I was kind of wondering if he's sick or something? Is that why he hasn't come to classes?" there was concern in her voice even though she tried to hide it.

"Yeah," Hailey said

"What?"

"He's sick,"

For unknown reasons, she panicked,

"Is it that bad? What is he sick of? Pneumonia? Flu? Malaria?"

Hailey was amused, it was funny seeing Ashton and Sophia unsure of each other's feelings when in reality, they've fallen deeply for each other. So she decided to play around a bit, "Yeah, it's quite serious. My brother says he's having some problems with his heart ever since he kissed this certain girl in class - something weird has been going on with him ever since,"

"Eh?" Sophia frowned, why was that scene oddly familiar. Then it clicked in her head, that was she and Ashton.....

Seriously? The girl went beet red, Hailey was poking fun at her.

"Don't worry about my brother, he's simply going through a minor problem but if you are that concerned, you can visit -"

"No, I was just asking," She replied quickly.

"Fine then," Hailey took a step to leave but she couldn't stand it anymore. She took careful steps towards Sophia causing her to lean against her locker.

Hailey placed her hands on either side of her, caging her in, and lowered her head to speak into her ears, "Make sure you stay away from Isaac - I can perceive his scent on you - he's not someone you'd want to hang out with. You belong to my brother Ashton and him alone,"

Sophia was so bewildered by her statement that her mouth hung open yet no word escaped. Before she could ask her what she meant by that, the girl had already zoomed off.

This left Sophia more confused than ever, what does Hailey mean by that? And why should she stay away from Isaac? He didn't come off as someone dangerous even though he behaved a bit oddly. But the greatest question was how Hailey knew she met Isacc? They bumped into each other right in front of her class, not here and Hailey hadn't even been there - Sophia was sure of it.

"I can perceive his scent on you," Sophia remembered the girl's comment. No way, that was impossible.

Just to be sure, Sophia lifted her arm and took a whiff but she couldn't get anything other than her natural scent. She smelled her hair too - it smelled of strawberry shampoo - there was nothing.

This was one odd place and the people were getting stranger with each passing minute. Sophia dismissed the matter to the back of her mind, this had to be some sort of joke or something. Yes, Hailey must be messing with her or something.

And she was nobody's property - Ashton included.